The passing of former President Jimmy Carter has brought out the accolades for his post-presidential years, but not as much for his actual performance as president. As the New York Times editorialized:
“There’s no predicting history’s verdict. Up to now, Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at age 100 in Plains, Ga., has been judged to be a middle-of-the-pack president, his one term in office remembered for circumstances and events that simply overwhelmed him: the seizure in Iran of 52 American hostages, the bungled attempt to rescue them, the gasoline lines, inflation, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Yet he is also considered one of America’s greatest ex-presidents, for using the residual star power of his office to help his successors and his country as a peacemaker, backstage diplomat, human rights champion, monitor of free elections and advocate for the homeless while finding time to write poetry and, by his own example, providing the best possible case for traditional religious values.”
Yes, the NYT later mentioned briefly that Carter began the process to deregulate gasoline and oil prices, but for the most part, the accolades from the progressive side of American politics have concentrated on his activities after he left Washington. Others praise his progressive measures and support for solar energy, but fail to understand how important his economic legacy really was. Continue reading